Sea hare, or Lahtak

One of the largest species of seals inhabiting the Arctic Ocean is the sea hare, or Lahtak. It lives in almost all the Arctic seas and adjacent waters. Lakhtak can be found on the eastern shore of the East Siberian Sea, on the Chukchi Sea, at Cape Borrow, in the waters of Spitsbergen, the Northern Earth. In addition, these animals live in the shallows of the Kara, Barents and White seas. Lakhtak chose the greater part of the Sea of Okhotsk and reached even the coast of Southern Sakhalin. It can be found in the waters of the North Atlantic, as well as on the western and eastern shores of Greenland. Individuals sometimes, not voluntarily, migrate even to the area of the North Pole, where they enter on ice floes.

What does a sea hare look like? He has a rather massive body, against which the head and fins seem small. The length of adult representatives of this species ranges from 2.2 to 3 m, depending on the habitat, and its weight can be up to 360 kg. Lahtak has a slightly extended muzzle and a short neck. Adults have a single-colored brownish-gray back, which becomes light gray at the bottom. Many individuals along the back have a peculiar belt - a dark strip with indistinct contours. Females and males have the same color.

The sea hare has a distinct feature that distinguishes it from other seals - large thick and long labial vibrissae (distinctive mustache) of a smooth and even shape. The rest of the scalp is coarse and comparatively sparse. Newborn seals have a gray-brown soft hairline, which resembles a fur coat. On the head, the animals have whitish spots. The third finger on the front fins is the longest. The teeth are rather small, which leads to their rapid erasure. That is why in adults of individuals from gums they act slightly.

The seal of the sea hare does not make any seasonal long migrations. Basically, these animals are considered sedentary, although for insignificant distances move constantly. Depending on the area they can move either actively or passively (on ice). On ice floes they are usually located singly, in rare cases their number reaches up to three individuals. On the ice, the seal does not jerk, it climbs on him with jerks, which is carried out with the help of blows by the rear fins on the water. In the autumn period one can observe large coastal rookeries.

The sea hare preys on bottom and bottom animals, mainly at a depth of 60 meters. There are rare cases when seals descend to a depth of 150 meters. The diet depends on the habitat. Objects of feeding of seals of this species are more than 70 species of animals, including crustaceans, mollusks, worms, various fish. In most cases, the diet is mixed food.

Mating of adult individuals occurs on ice floes after the lactation period. Pregnancy lasts almost a year. Puppy occurs from March to May. Those seals that live in the Sea of Okhotsk, it ends a month earlier, and in the Canadian archipelago and the Bering Sea - only in May. The newborn sea hare is covered with thick dark-brown fur, which lasts no more than three weeks. The length of his body is 120 cm. His mother feeds her baby only 4 weeks with her milk.

By its nature, this kind of seal is a fairly good-natured animal, not showing any aggression. What is surprising, males do not conflict even in the mating season.